Method of and apparatus for dyeing lace



M. SCHIESARI METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DYEING LACE File'd June 18,1924 6 Sheets-Sheet l iMETHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DYEING LACE F'iled June 18, 1924 6 Sheets-Sheqt 2 1,527,446 M. SCHlESARI M. SCHIESARI METHODOF AND APPARATUS FOR DYEING LACE Filed June 18, 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 6Sheets-Sheet 4,

M. SCHIESARI METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DYEING LACE Filed June 18, 1924Feb. 24, 1925.

F b, 24. 1925. Y

- M.-SCHIE$ARI METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DYEING LACE Filed June 18,1924 1,527,446 M. SCHIESARI METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DYEING LACEFiled June 18, 1924 e Sheets-She'i' s .Patented Feb. 24, 1925 UNITEDSTATES MARIO SGHIESARI, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DYEING- LACE.

Application filed June 18, 1924. Serial No. 720,787.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARIO SCHIESARI, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of New York, county and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of and Apparatusfor Dyeing Lace, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to methods of and 1 apparatus for dyeing lacesand other products in strip form, the flimsy nature of which makes itimperative that the material not be subjected to stretching or to unduetension during the course of the operation.

The primary object of this invention, is to provide a method of dyeinglaces, whereby an operation which is now largely performed by hand, maybe successfully performed by means of suitable mechanical appliances,increasing the etliciency and lowering the cost.

Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus of novel andimproved design, whereby laces and other similar materials may beproperly dyed, while being meachanically handled from beginning to enOther objects and advantages of the pres ent invention will more fullyappear as the description proceeds, and will be particularly pointed outin the appended claims.

Laces are generally dyed either by the wetprocess, where a liquid dye isemployed, or by the dry process, where the coloring material employed isin the form of finely divided dust, in which the lace is inserted. Thisinvention relates to improvements in the dry process. which is nowcarried out entirely by hand, on account of the delicate nature of thematerials handled.

The dyeing material is generally a mixture of pulverized gypsum or talc,and a suitable coloring matter in powder form. Laces are generally madefrom white thread, and colored afterwards, in such shades as thedictates of fashion may call for; The dry process of dyeing is mostgenerally employed, on account of its being less expen-, sive than thewet process. The lace, which is received in wound form upon flatcartons, is removed and made into bunches, and is then inserted into areceptacle containing the dye g p wd r,

This is sufficient to cause the lace to become almost entirelyimpregnated with the dust; and its dyeing becomes thorough and completewhen the bunch is extracted from the receptacle and is then poundedagainst the surface of a smooth table. The lace becomes uniformlytinted, and the excess dust is spread all over through the air in anebulous cloud, which is removed by means of a fan.

The laces are in most cases already cut in twelve yard lengths, andthree cartons, or thirty-siX yards, are packed together in one package.Most of the time consumed by the operation is taken by the unfolding ofthe laces, and by the re-winding after dyeing, especially by there-winding,-be cause the pounding may often cause the lace to becometangled or tied up; so that one man attending to. the dyeing proper,must generally be assisted by twenty girls attending to the unwindingand re-winding of the ace.

These operations are generally performed by hand, because laces are aptto easily become damaged if subjected to the slightest tension orrubbing, and this makes it difficult to apply mechanical feedingoperations, where a pull is generally applied on a strip material at there-winding end. On the other hand, it is obvious that, were a continuousmechanical process employed, a considerable saving in labor wouldresult, and a more uniform grade of work would also be produced.

I have therefore devised a method of carrying out the various steps ofthe operation mentioned, entirely by mechanical means, by employing aseries of feeding and take-up means, all positively controlled torelease or to feed the material which is to be taken up by the nextappliance, with a speed calculated to insure a permanent slack in thematerial between two successive steps; thus avoiding all tensionalstresses in the material. The method also includes means for removingthe excess of coloring matter, and for insuring its uniform distributionupon the surface of the lace, to duplicate the effect of the poundingoperation hereinbefore mentioned.

My improved method, and apparatus for err i smr nether! are r e will bebest understood by referring to the annexed drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an end sectional view in elevation of thatpart of theapparatus where the dyeing-operation, proper, takes place;

Fig. 2 is an end view in elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is an end view in elevation of the same at the opposite end;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same, partly sectioned;

Fig. 5 is a front view in elevation of the same;

Fig. 6 is a detailcross sectional view in elevation of a valvecontrolling the air suction;

Fig. 7 is a side view in elevation of the entire apparatus Fig. 8-is afragmentary front view in elevation of the rewinding apparatus;

Fig. 9 is a plan sectional view of a detail of the same;

Fig. 10 is a side view in elevation of the same;

Fig. 11 is a view in perspective illustrating one ofthe ways of joiningtogether the ends of adjoining lengths of lace;

Fig. 12 is a plan view illustrating a way of joining together the endsof adjoining lengths of lace when the operation is performed on aplurality of strips side by side;

Fig. 13 is a view in perspective of a clamping device which may be usedin inserting the lace through the machine, when first starting theoperation;

Fig. 14 is a side view in elevation of a device for guiding the strip tobe rewound, and for imparting a reciprocating motion to the guidingspool;

Fig. 15 is a front view in elevation of the same 5 Fig. 16 is a planview of the same, partly sectioned;

Fig. 17 is a. diagrammatic illustration of the method of siniultancouslydyeing a plurality of separate strips;

Fig. 18 is a similar illustration of a method. of simultaneously dyeinga plurality of strips, by means of a single set of feeding appliances;and,

Fig. 19 is a similar illustration of a method of simultaneously dyeing aplurality of sets of strips, each set comprising a plurality of stripscontrolled by a single set of feeding appliances,

The dyeing apparatus, proper, comprises a frame, 20, having a frontlower opening 21 through which is inserted the strand of lace 22. Thelace passes then between two rollers 23, 24, mounted on shafts 25, 26,respectively, within the lower compartment 27, of the frame. Above therollers is placed a funnel shaped receptacle 28, the lower slot opening28 of which is directly in .line

der has .little chance-to escape. Upon leaving rollers 23, 24, the lacepasses vertically through the funnel-shaped receptacle, be-

coming impregnated with the coloring material, and after passing througha restricted passage 32, reaches another set of rollers 33, 34, mountedon shafts 36, respectively, within an intermediate chamber orcompartment 37. Some suitable packing material, such as cork or cotton,is placed at 38 underneath rollers 33, 34, and close to tubular passage32, to prevent the dust carried up by the lace from reaching chamber 37.

From this intermediate chamber or compartment, the lace reaches an uppersuction chamber or compartment 39, and passes between another set of tworollers 40, 41, mounted on shafts 42, 43, respecti j From these the laceis directed through an opening 44 at the rear, through which it leavesthe chamber.

The top of compartment 27 is perforated at 45, 46, directly underneathtwo containers 47, 48, having perforated bottoms 49, 50. Said containershave a supply of coloring material'for replacing the material used up in28 from time to time, and this can be done by slightly moving saidcontain-ers outwardly so as to cause the perforations in their bottomsto register with. the perforations in the top of compartment 27; some ofthe powder will then flow through the passages thus provided.

All. three sets of rollers rotate at the same speed, feeding the lacefrom one set to the other, so that there is .no tension produced fromone set to the next; in fact, the lace is so arranged, when firstinserted in position, that there is a slack between two con secutivesets of rollers, and said slack will be maintained on account of. theuniform speed of the rollers.

The roll-ers may be driven in any suitable manner, but for the sake ofsimplicity I prefer to drive only one of the rollers in each set bypositive driving means, the other roller being driven by frictionagainst the former.

Such an arrangement is shown in the drawings, where rollers 23, 33, 40,are shown driven by a common shaft 51, carrying worms 52, 53, 54,driving worm wheels 56, 57, mounted on shafts 25, 35, 42, respectively.The other rollers are maintained in frictional contact with the former,by means of springs such as 58, 59, 60, attached at each end betweentheir respective shafts,

shafts 26, 36, 43 being mounted in end slots 61, 62, 63, so as to becapable of a slight transverse movement to detach their respectiverollers from contact with rollers .23. 83, 40.

The surface of the rollers is preferably covered with some suitableyielding material, such s rubber, so that both tightness and. gooddriving contact are assured. the driving surface adapting itself to theoutline of the material fed between the rollers.

To start the operation, a flat spring clamp, such as indicated at or. inFig. 13, is inserted through slot at the top of the frame 20, and isforced downwardly between the three sets of rollers. Shafts 26, 86, 46%.are then secured in their open position by means of hooks 66, 67, 68. Byremoving box 31, the free end of the lace may be attached by hand to thelower end of clamp 64., and the same may then be pulled up between thethree sets of rollers, by means of said clamp. After passing through theupper set of rollers, some suitable pin or hook may be used to pass thefree end of the lacethrough openring 44:, after freeing it from theclamp, and releasing, if necessary, shaft 43 from. book 68.

Once this is done, hook 66 is operated to release shaft 26, and shaft 43is again engaged by its hook 68, so that the lace becomes clampedbetween the lower set of rollers, but free of the other sets. Byreleasing a certain length of the lace by hand, the same is allowed tocrumple up, providing a slack at its lower portion. The intermediate setof rollers is then closed, and an additional length of lace is released,providing a slack betweenthe intermediate and the upper set of rollers;and after this, also the upper set of rollers is set to clamp the lacein operative position.

Rotation of shaft 51 may now be started, arising uniform feeding actionof the of rollers, insuring maintenance of the slack purposely providedin the material. There is no tension in the material, except as may bedue to its weight, which is infinitesimal, and to the resistance inpassing through the powder material contained in funnel 28, whichisexceedingly small; so that the dye ing operation. is performed withoutany possibility of the material being damaged in any way.

Inv the upper compartment or suction chamber 39, the material issubjected to rapid oscillations caused by suction of air alternately inone and the other direction; this serving to free the material from theexcess of coloring matter adhering to its surface, both due to thesuction, and to the mechanical shaking of the lace which follows theinversion of the direction of suct ne This phase of the operation isperformed by applying, longitudinally to compartment 39, and on eachside of the lace 22, two suction pipes 69, 70, provided withperforations 71, 72. Suction is created at one end, through pipe 7 3,connected to somesuitable suction fan, not shown, and adapted to bealternately connected to pipe 69 or 70, by a rotary valve 74:. As shownin Figs. 3- and 6, said valve is driven by a pulley 7 5 mounted on shaft36, and its rotation will cause air to be drawn alternately from one orfrom the other pipe. At the same time, by a pin and slot connection 76,shown in Fi g. 3, said valve operates a yoke 7 7, connect ing levers 78, 7 9, connected to shafts 80, 81, respectively, causing said shafts tooscillate simultaneously in one or the other direction. Inside ofcompartment 39, said shafts carry leaf valves 82, 83, respectively,adapted to move against or away fromthe sur faces of rollers 40, 41,respectively.

When suction is exerted through pipe 69, valve 82 abuts against thesurface of roller 40, while valve 88, at the opposite side ofcompartment 89, is detached from roller 411. To reach pipe 69, the airfed into the com partment through the openings at the top must passbetween valve 83 and roller ll, and through lace 22, deflecting saidlace towards the right. Half a revolution of valve 74 will cause theclosing of valve 83 and the opening of valve 82, and at the same timewill cause the suction to take place through pipe 70. The air nowreaches pipe by passing through the space between valve 82 and roller40, and through the lace from right to left, so that the lace isdeflected towards the left. Pulley being relatively large, valve 74 iscaused to rotate rather rapidly, so that the lace is subjected toseveral oscillations before it finally passes through the upper set ofrollers.

The suction thus created in alternate directions provokes a mechanicalaction which detaches from the surface of the lace the excess of powderadhering thereto; and at the same time said powder is carried awaythrough pipes 69, 70, and. through pipe 73, so that the surroundingatmosphere remains clear and fit for breathing.

This feature represents a. decided improvement over the methods now inuse. inasmuch as the air is full of particles of dust in suspension,which dwells in spite of the use of suction fans. This is very harmfulto the persons working in the room, and creates conditions of permanentuncleanliness which are very objectionable from many standpoints. Bymeans of my device, the dust is not given a chance to enter thesurrounding atmosphere, and is removed directly, as stated.

Once the machine is started, the process may be rendered continuous byattaching one end or" a strand of 1 cc to the next in some suitablemanner, for instance by means of an ordinary invisiliile hair pin, suchas shown in 11, llhen more than one strand is passing aine through theof rollers, the various strands being side by side. a id oi the samelength, the system of multiple joining); by means oi a common pin 85.shown in Fig. 12, may be adopted. The complete apparatus shown in whereit is seen that the cartons to be unwound are mounted at one end, andthe cartons to be w-innn are mounted at the other end. lhe cartons aremounted on a stand such as shown in i l 1 8 at 86. carrying a horizontalsh: 8?, provided with a clamp 88 at each end, adapted to receive acarton 89, secured in position by means of thumb nut 90. On said shattis moimted conical gear 31, in mesh with near 92 mounted on verticalshatt 9?, operated by a worm wheel 94.

A motor 95 rotates a worm 96-, in mesh with a worm wheel 97 mounted on ahorizontal longitudinal s ia'tt Q8.

Said shatt by means (it gear 99 causes the rotation of gear 100 mountedon vertical shait operating: the three sets oi rollers and the airvalves within frame 20: and by means of worms 101, 10.2, it operates thevertical shafts of stands 36. causing the unwindingand the windin ot thelace, respectively. The cartons are usually of a standard dimension, sothat by properly proportionino; the various sets of gears, it is obviousthat continuous travel of the lace may be insured from end to end,without any undue tension.

Between the dveins; apparatus and the rewindinn' stand. is shown'uidiup; device for the lace to be rewound which may be seen in detailin Fi s. 14. 15, 16. The same consists ot two stationary cross bars 103,104-, mounted on stands 105, on which is slidablv mounted a platform 1%.

011 said platform may be adiustably set two uprights 10. 108, which maybe secured in position by means oil thumb nuts 109, at the proper dstance to receive a guiding; spool 110, vertically slidable between saiduprights. within vertical slots 111 with which said uprights areprovided.

Said spool is extremely light, being: made o1 paper or cardboard, andrests with its weightover the lace. as shown in Fig. 7, providing; avery small tension, just enough to insure even rewindine: Furthermore,since the lace must be wound upon the can ton to cover a certain width,so as to produce a substantially reel easy to handle and to pack, bybeing wound upon it spirally back and forth, it is desirable to provideav reciprocating motion for said guiding spool moving the strand of lacetransversely back and forth while it is being rewound.

To this end, platform 106 is connected to a pin 1.12 carried by ahorizontal worm wheel 1.13 by a connection 111; so that the rotation ofworm wheel 1153, obtained by means of a worm 115 mounted on shalt 98,will cause the desired reciprocating motion of the platform, andconsequently of the spool carried thereby. Such a motion is not uniform,but is sullicient for the purpose of winding up laces: it a uniformtransverse moven'ient ot the platform should be desired in order toproduce an even spiral winding, however, this may easily be obtained bya suitable cam controlled arrangement of any well lrnown design.

ln Figs. 1?, 18. 19. l show some arrangements in diagrammatic torm,illustrating the possibility of extending the system to the simultaneoustreatment ot a plurality of strands, without noticeably increasing thenumber oi parts in the apparatus employed.

in the arrangement of Fig. 17 it is seen how several parallel strands oflace 116, 117, 118, can be simultaneously ted to and by as many setsoi"? rolls, as described, mounted in a single common chamber 119. thebottom oi which has a ZlQ-Zdg outline to "term funnel shaped sections120, 121, 122. in correspondence of the lower rolls. Between theintermediate and the upper sets of rolls, suction pipes arranged foralternate operation at each side of each strand are provided, as shownat 123, 124. Figs. 17, 18, 19, are diagrammatic in character. and novalves corresponding to valves 82, 83 0'1" Fig. 1 are shown; it isobvious, however, that suitable valve arrangements can be provided ineach case.

In the arrangen'ient of Fig. 18. a single series oi three sets of rollsis made to serve a plurality of strands 125, 126, 127. 128, passino;through a single tunnel 129. ln this case separating rolls 130 areprovided within the funnel and also within the space be tween theintermediate and the upper set of rolls, at 131: furthermore, suctionpipes 132 are provided between adjoining strands, arranged, as in theprevious case, for alternate operation. In this manner, a thoroughimpregnation and successive vibration of all the strands is assurerh inspite of the tact that only one series of rolls is used.

In Fig. 19 the two systems are combined, so as to manifold increase thecapacity 01 a machine of the type shown in Fig. 17, by feeding a.plurality of strands to each one of a plurality of series of rollsarranged for simultaneous operation. In this case. like in connectionwith the device of Fig. 18, separating rolls 132, 133 are provided, toinsure individual treatment for each strand.

The drawings are intended for illustrative purposes only, and not in alimiting sense; since it is obvious that various details may be changedto a considerable extent without departing from the scope of the presentinvention.

I therefore reserve myself the right to carry my invention into practicein all those ways and manners which may best answer requirements ofdifferent cases, and 'WlllCll may enter, fairly, into the scope of theappended claims. i

I claim:

l. The method of dyeing lace in strip form by means of a colored powder,which consists in causing said strip to travel through said powderwithoutencrting any tension on the material itself, and in subse quentlycausing mechanical vibration of said strip, to separate the excess ofpowder carried thereby.

2. The method of dyeing lace in strip form by means of a colored powder,which consists in causing said strip to travel through a supply of saidpowder, without exerting any tension on the material itself, and insubsequently exposing said strip to air suction alternately on oppositesides, to cause vibration of said strip, and removal of the excess ofpowder carried thereby.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination, with areceptacle for coloring material in powder form, and means for drawingmaterial in strip form through said coloring material, of means forcausing a vibration of said strip upon its leaving said receptacle, toremove the excess of powder carried thereby.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination, with areceptacle for coloring material in powder form, and means: for drawingmaterial in strip form through said coloring material, of means forcausing a suction of air alternately on opposite sides of said strip,causing the same to vibrate, effecting the removal of the excess ofpowder carried thereby.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination, with areceptacle for coloring material in powder form, and means for drawingmaterial in strip form through said coloring material, of means forfeeding said strip towards said drawing means to avoid tension in saidstrip, and means for causing a vibration of said strip upon its leavingsaid receptacle, to remove the excess of powder carried thereby.

('3. In a device of the class described, a funnel shaped receptacle forcoloring material in powder form, means for drawing material in stripform through said receptacle in a vertical direction, means feeding saidstrip towards said drawing means, and means for causing a suction of airalternately on opposite sides of said strip after leaving saidreceptacle.

7. In a device of the class described, a funnel shaped. receptacle forcoloring material in powder form, a set of rolls for drawing material instrip form through said receptacle in a vertical direction, a set ofrolls feeding said strip towards said drawing rolls, and means forrotating said rolls at a sub stantially uniform speed.

8. In a device of the class described, a receptacle for coloringmaterial in powder form, a set of rolls for drawing material in stripform through said receptacle, a set of rolls feeding said strip towardssaid receptacle, means for rotating said sets of rolls at asubstantially uniform speed, and means for creating a suction of airalternately on opposite sides of said strip after leaving saidreceptacle.

9. In a device of the class described, rotatable means for holdingcartons on which lace in strip form is wound, rotatable means forholding cartons on which said lace is to be rewound, a dyeing apparatusinterposed therebetween, said apparatus comprising feeding means, andmeans for driving said rotatable and feeding means so as to cause saidstrip to travel from one end to the other without being subjected totension between the various steps of its travel.

10. In a device of the class described, the combination, with means forprocessing lace in strip form, and rotatable means for holding cartonson which said lace is to be Wound up, of guiding means for said laceinterposed between said processing and said winding means, and meanscausing transverse reciprocating motion of said guiding means.

11. In a device of the class described, rotatable means for holdingcartons on which lace in strip form is wound, rotatable means forholding cartons on which said lace is to be rewound, a dyeing apparatusinterposed therebetween, said apparatus comprising feeding means forsaid strip, means for driving said rotatable and feeding means so as tocause said strip to travel from one end to the other without beingsubjected to tension between the various steps of its travel, guidingmeans for said lace interposed between said dyeing apparatus and saidrewinding means, and means causing transverse reciprocating motion ofsaid guiding means.

12. In a device of the class described, rotatable means for holdingcartons on which lace in strip form is wound, a receptacle for coloringmaterial in power form, means feeding said strip towards saidreceptacle, means drawing said strip through said receptacle, means forcreating an air suction alternately on opposite sides of said stripafter leaving said receptacle, rotatable means for holding cartons onwhich said lace is to be rewound, and means for simultaneously drivingsaid rotatable and feeding' and drawing means at substantially the sameoperating speed.

13. In a device of the class described, ro-

tatable means for holding cartons on which lace in strip form is wound,a receptacle for coloring material in powder form, means feeding saidstrip towards said receptacle, means drawing said strip through saidreceptacle, means for creating an air suction 10 alternately on oppositesides of said strip MARIO SCHI E SARI.

